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Sticker of Asian jumping worm
Bug card No. 0062 of 1,500

Asian jumping worm

Amynthas agrestis
Eats: Leftovers and dead thingsSnails, slugs and wormsForests and woodsNo legsNot an insect, but a bug cousin

The Asian jumping worm is a shiny grey or brown earthworm with a milky white band around its body. If you touch it, it thrashes and wriggles like a little snake and can even jump. It came from Asia and now causes trouble in North American forests.

Fun fact: this one is not an insect at all, it has no legs! But kids find it on every bug hunt, so it lives in Bug Wiki too.
Lives in
First from Japan, Korea and Taiwan, now also in the United States, in woods and gardens
Length
10 to 13 cm (3.9 to 5.1 in)
Top speed
about 0.03 km/h (0.02 mph)
On foot, estimate
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless to people. It is only a problem for forests and gardens.
What does it eat?
It eats fallen leaves and other dead plant bits on top of the soil, and it eats a lot of them.
For real!Photo of Asian jumping worm
Picture by Njh5880. CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How big is it?

How long is it?

Asian jumping worm about 13 cm long (5.1 in)A crayon about 9 cm (3.5 in)A banana about 18 cm (7.1 in)A house cat about 50 cm (20 in)
as long as 4 toy building bricks in a rowabout as long as your handneeds 2 minutes to cross a dinner table

How big is Asian jumping worm compared to YOU?

Just maths in your browser. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.

How fast is it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

To escape a hungry bird, it can break off a piece of its own tail.

2

It eats so many fallen leaves that the forest floor can end up bare, which makes it harder for plants to grow.

3

It does not need a partner to have babies. Every worm can make egg cocoons by itself.

4

Its egg cocoons are as small as mustard seeds and survive freezing winters, even when all the grown-up worms die.

5

Its droppings make the soil look like coffee grounds.

you asked

Most asked questions about Asian jumping worm

?Why is it called a jumping worm?

When it is disturbed it thrashes around wildly like a snake and can seem to jump.

?Are Asian jumping worms bad?

In North America, yes. They eat the leaf layer on the forest floor and change the soil, which harms plants.

?How big is the Asian jumping worm?

Grown-ups are usually about 10 to 13 centimetres long.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Amynthas agrestis
Group
Snails, slugs and worms
Family
Megascolecidae
Classification
Clitellata > Megascolecidae
Lives on
Asia, North America
Also known as
Crazy worm, Snake worm, Jumping worm

Where the facts come from

  1. Amynthas agrestis (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
  2. Picture by Njh5880. CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The round sticker of this bug is cut from the same picture.

If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.

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